For the first time in 3 ˝ years, Dan Quinn talked to his daughter on Tuesday night.

After years of court fights and lobbying lawmakers to change an archaic Michigan law, Quinn spoke with his beloved Maeleigh by phone. He was not sure if she remembered him. He was anxious about false stories the 6-year-old girl might have been told by her mother about her extended family.

But he was sure that he could explain to Maeleigh, a victim of child neglect, that he loves her and he is her true father.

Quinn, a resident of Highland, near Brighton, was not the target of a bitter divorce or a nasty child custody fight. He was shut down in gaining access to his daughter by a 1956 Michigan statute that said a woman’s husband is legally presumed to be the father of his wife’s children.

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While fighting in court for access to Maeliegh (pronounced may-lee) and proving through a DNA test that he was the girl’s biological father, Quinn also successfully waged a battle at the state Capitol to change the law. A new statute signed by Gov. Snyder last June led to two successive victories in Genesee County Circuit Court, on Feb. 13 and on Monday.

“Let this be a great testament that when both political parties come together, along with the community, great things can always happen. Thank you all again for everything everyone has done on behalf of my little girl,” Quinn said in a Facebook message on Monday.

The judicial ruling earlier this month that said, in accordance with the new law, Quinn has legal standing to custody rights produced tears of joy from those on hand in the courtroom, including grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins of the little girl they barely know.

The second court ruling on Monday gave Quinn the right to communicate with Maeleigh for an hour a day, four days a week, by phone or online via Skype. The initial reunion took place Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

Hours after the newest court decision, Quinn and his parents heaped praise on state Sen. Steve Bieda, the Warren Democrat who shepherded the law change through the Legislature. That emotional phone call ended with Bieda portrayed as a savior by family members.

The senator said lawmakers rarely experience such a “tangible, emotional result” from their work.

“I was very happy. There was a lot of frustration in trying to get this done. I worked very hard on this. We had a law that was blind to the realities of life,” Bieda said.

Maeleigh, now about 6 ˝-years-old, is living in Kentucky with her mother, Candace Beckwith, who has fought Quinn’s bid for a reunification with the girl every step of the way.

Quinn’s heart-wrenching story began in 2006 when he fathered a child with Beckwith. Two years later, she reconciled with her estranged husband, Adam Beckwith, and eventually left Michigan — and took Maeleigh with her.

Quinn’s legal battle to regain access to his daughter resulted in two consecutive court losses. The DNA test didn’t matter, in the eyes of the court, and the fact that Adam Beckwith did not sign Maeleigh’s birth certificate was tossed aside by the judicial system.

Meanwhile, the Beckwiths had taken up residence in an area near the Ohio-Kentucky border, where police said Adam was selling drugs — mostly ecstasy and marijuana — with the help of Candace and Maeleigh. Making street deals from his vehicle, Adam Beckwith put Maeleigh in the front seat as a diversion, assuming that the presence of the precocious child made him less suspicious to police.

In 2010, he was arrested and convicted in Kentucky of six drug-related felonies after a police raid turned up drugs in the Beckwith home. Adam Beckwith apparently remains incarcerated while Candace Beckwith, after pleading guilty to complicity to drug trafficking and child neglect, was granted probation.

With Quinn unable to intercede, the state of Kentucky restored her parental rights for the care and custody of Maeleigh.

In recent months, with the legal tide turning, Quinn consulted several experts on how to handle Maeleigh’s transition back to a life with her father in Michigan. A child psychologist, working on a pro bono basis, has offered to help the girl adjust.

While Quinn enjoys his phone and video chats with Maeleigh due to his resurrected father-daughter relationship, he awaits a ruling from Judge John Gadola on his custody rights. The judge has promised to make the case the “top priority” of his court.

Meanwhile, a pink and white bedroom and a closet full of clothes that have been updated through the years await the return of little Maeleigh to her new home with her doting Dad.